Netflix

I finally got Netflix! I put it off for a long time, but then I heard they offered unlimited streaming to your TV with the right device. That hooked me. I bought the device and took the plunge. Well, as it turns out, only a limited selection of their library is available for streaming. I assumed it would be everything, but it certainly is not. All the stuff I really wanted to watch was not on their limited streaming list. Bummer!

So the device got returned, but it was too late for me. I'd already started watching DS9 via snailmail and am halfway through season one. Can't stop now, can I? And there's so much else out there. I've never seen Dr. Who, for example, or West Wing or LA Law or Sex in the City or ER or Hill Street Blues or The Sopranos or even SpongeBob or South Park! And the movies!! Well. Lets just say there are a number of movies in my queue. Not only that, but the new Nanny McPhee is reserved and will arrive in my mailbox as soon as it's available. How great is that?

Who else has Netflix? What/how do you use it to watch?

i thought that it was streaming through your cable box..just that you needed digital cable for it to work!
i've never gotten any of those through the mail one price for a month deals. maybe one day though.
how many dvds can you get in a week? if i had it i'd want to get my money's worth and get about 10 a week;) (when i had my own apt and there were rental places all over, i'd hit the rental places when they'd have specials and sometimes watch as many as 20 films a week!

The deal I signed up for allows 2 DVDs out at once. ($14/mo.) That's all I need for TV shows, cuz I can only watch about 2 hours a night. I rotate them such that, while I'm watching a 4-hour (4 episode) disc over 2 days, the other disc is being replaced by mail and arrives the day I send the last one back.

ah yo u've got it worked out pretty well:)
i was working with the video games this afternoon and was reminded (when i looked at the stickers the rep put on the boxes)that is you have a Wii you can go netflix through that. but you still need broadband connection to do it.

Yeah you can, but the same thing applies to Wii as to my disappointing streaming device. Netflix just doesn't have that much available for instant play to your TV. If I already had a Wii I would certainly use the free disc they offer, but I don't do the game thing.

Still, all this negative instant-gratification stuff aside, I'm so glad I signed up for Netflix. There's so much to explore, and I can try obscure stuff my family and friends suggest that my local vid store doesn't carry.

And THAT said, I confess I feel disloyal to my little local vid store. I've spent many a happy 20 minutes on a Saturday morning, browsing the shelves for something to watch that night. The guy there knows his movies and, once we get talking, has often suggested things I never would have tried. Red Box, Netflix, etc. are gonna drive these small guys out of business because of people like me who want a wider palette. You can't stop progress, I suppose, but I'm not sure "progress" always deserves it's positive connotation, ya know?

those poor little corner store video places are about as rare as the corner candy shop...or ice cream place with tables and chairs. something does have to be said for being able to talk to the person behind the counter and hear all their odd info. (remember Quentin Tarantino started out that way....and if i had my druthers i'd be doing the same thing).

i'll give ya an idea to put on your netflix list and see if they have it..The Impostors. BUT make sure its the one with Oliver Platt and Stanley Tucci. Its not the most obscure film i could recommend but i only know a couple people who have seen it. But its sooo funny and has so many cool indie folks in it!

Thanks, Jeane! It's there (the right one, I made sure) and I added it to my 2-mile long list. Se what I mean? They have everything!

Here's MY problem. A long time ago I saw a sweet little Romeo & Juliet type indie film that I cannot find. It started with a fire in a small store and ended with 2 small town cops face to face (or, rather, car to car) on their small towns' border. Does that ring any bells for anyone?

None, here. I have Netflix but it's the basic $5.00 a month plan.
works for me because I can get stuff from the library.

the title wasn't something about starting fires was it? i know there's a movie out there that's entitled the whatever the word is for people who start fires (i can't think of the word....its not firestarter....)
I know there's a film called The Arsonist but not sure if that's the one i'm remembering.
Do you remember any of the actors.....or what the leads looked like?

No, this was not about a firebug. It was a sweet story about kids from rival towns who fell in love. Very Romeo and Juliet, yet not a bit sappy; darkly funny, in fact. Some great characters amongst the townspeople from both towns. Wish I could remember more.

Okay, no help there, but now I need advice. I asked my ladies at the gymette to tell me some good movies to get. There was a lot of back and forth and I have a whole list. The one that they all said was great was The Green Mile. I looked it up and it's Stephen King! I once rented Misery on someone's advice and had to sleep with the light on for 3 nights, I kid you not! Is this movie going to freak me out? I can't handle crazy psychotic people.

Suzzzz, "The Green Mile" is not at all what I would have expected from Stephen King. I don't do horror movies -ever, and I try to avoid ones that are on the creepy side when I can. While there is part of TGM that is excruciatingly sad (seriously, kleenex will be required), I have gone back to watch it a number of times. It is one of the movies we own. The performances are first-rate. It is one of the movies that proves that Tom Hanks is not a just good actor, but a great one. Michael Clarke Duncan is amazing, David Morse is wonderful...I could go on and on. It is a marvelous movie. I hope you decide watch it. I really, really, really don't think you will regret it for a second.

Another quite excellent movie attached to Stephen King is "The Shawshank Redemption" with Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins, Clancey Brown and others.

To disclose fully, both of these movies touch on some difficult subject matter, and they are by no means light-hearted fare. However, I found them both to be very watchable. TGM, especially, is deeply touching.

I agree with you about "Misery." I think Kathy Bates is a wonderful actress, but that is just way too much insanity for me.

Susan, thank you. I admit I often go for "feel good" movies for safety, but I can handle darkness if it has real meaning. What I canNOT handle is psycho horror. My gymette ladies don't seem like horror types, and I may challenge them about TGM this week, but hearing that from you gives me the courage to try it.

Suzzz, Susan is right the Green Mile and the Shawshank Redemption are not
what you would normally expect from Stephen King. I haven't seen either of those
movies in some time but I remember them. I also read the book the Green Mile.
Both book and movie are very powerful, very powerful indeed.

Susan's description is absolutely correct - these movies are not standard SK fare. Both are very good.

TGM is in place to be delivered for Saturday movie night. I'm ready for something good, and I trust you guys. I'll let you know. If I can speak.

Let us know what you think. It has been a decade I first saw it, so any time I watch it now, my reactions are affected by the simple fact that I know what happens and how it ends. We watched again this week, mostly for a reality check on what might be interpreted as psycho horror. It is a prison story, more or less, so there are some unsavory characters portrayed and some uncomfortable episodes, but not what I would categorize as psycho horror. I honestly can't remember if I had to invoke the protection of my safety afghan (it is invested with superpowers ) the first time I watched it. I do remember that I was woefully unprepared for the need for tissues. If you make it through without consuming a few, I'll consider you as the one with the superpowers!

We all have different sensibilites, so you may interpret it quite differently, but I'm really hoping we haven't lulled you into treacherous waters. Like Sue, I found it moving and powerful.

At any rate, it is quite long - so allow for potty breaks!

p.s. This will make sense after you see the movie, but I had a visit from a relative of Mr. Jingles yesterday. He ran right across my feet in the bathroom. Unfortunately for him, he met Zeke last night!

Suzzzz will NOT get through TGM without at least a few tissues. I don't have that same reaction watching movies, but I'm a Hard-Hearted Hanna, I guess...unless the movie involves animals.

oh yesh...Mr Jingles has friends who have been visiting here too.
There are sad parts in Green Mile but if i remember right the very end has a happy moment.
Watch for Bonnie Hunt.....she plays Tom Hank's character's wife.

Misery.....i don't know if i've sat through that movie all the way through in one sitting. there's a few points that are different in the movie than in the book...or at least i remembered them being different in the book.actually, the ending is pretty classic King.

i've read both books(well, Green Mile was a test King did where he wrote novellas and brought them out every month or so so i read a lot of little books)and books and movies were both good;)

Lol, Susan, your safety afghan! I love that! Of course, that you even have one handy makes me slightly nervous, but I'm not scared of TGM now. Y'all and my gymette friends are all on the same page about it, that it's intense and emotional but not scare-your-socks-off. That's all I wanted to know.

Mary knows me well. I'll put a fresh roll of TP by my chair to absorb any tears. I'll let you know what happens.

Green Mile has animal.....but Misery...naw, don't think there's more than maybe a fly in that one;)
just don't be eatin no Raisinettes during Green Mile....nothing to do with them speficially,but they look like something in the movie. (and no...NOT poop!)

I think i'm going to try to catch the late airing of Wendy Williams tonight. i think she's the one who was supposed to have Tony Shalhoud and Anthony LaPagilia(gawd i can't spell his name..they're both in Lend me a Tenor)on her show today. (every time i say or write her name i want to put an "O" in the middle of it! i guess that not only ages me, but tells ya stuff i was either listening to or reading about as a kid!)

Ready for an ironic twist to the story? After all my hesitation about The Green Mile, it arrived today and I started watching it tonight. After the first half hour I had forgotten my fears and was well and truly engrossed. Whoa. Powerful movie!

Then the disc started to hang up. A few blips at first, then bad stutters and long hangs. After ejecting & washing it, I finally gave up after another 20 minutes of constant interruptions. That disc was scratched all to h*ll, you should have seen it. I know Netflix discs have been in who knows how many hands, but you'd think they'd have a way of screening for unwatchable ones. Actually, I suppose they do -- people like me who go online and mark them as damaged and unwatchable (which I did). But what about ME?? I tell you, it was wrenching to give up trying to watch it when it was SO good and I was SO engaged!!

I will go to my local vid store tomorrow and rent it so I can finish watching it tomorrow night. And I will certainly tell Netflix I think they owe me a credit on my account for the cost of that rental. I don't care about the damned $3, I'm just frustrated and mad!!

*Suze calms down after venting her spleen*

BTW, y'all were right. It's a really good movie.

That really stinks, suzzzz! That has happened to me a few times when I got DVDs from the library.

Dang!

that's something i didn't like from rentals cuz you didn't know whose player it had been in .
the problem with dvds (and cds but those aren't passed around so much) is that not only are they in all those players BUT they are handled directly on the playing area. YOu also don't know who had touched what before they touched the dvd or even had their kid playing with it.

hope you can find it at the local rental place tomorrow!